Ma Familia. Part 2: The Baby Brother

As I have previously talked about, I really enjoyed growing up with brothers. I always longed for a sister, but I wouldn’t trade my brothers for the world. I recently talked about my older brother. So, it’s only fair that I devote the same attention to my baby brother. Never mind that the “baby” brother is 23 ½ years old, I’ll call him what I want.


He’s younger than me, so he didn’t teach me things or take care of me. No, in many cases, it was the opposite. I took it upon myself to look out for him. We are a little bit closer in age than my older brother and me. So, we spent a lot of our childhood together. We built forts together, made tents out of bed sheets together; climbed trees together, went places together, and used our imaginations together. And now, he lives about half an hour away from me (because I convinced him to move away from all that he knew, and locate closer to me), and he works with my husband. He has been invaluable in the construction of our house. We need help. I call Asa. Help arrives. I can call him at 9pm, and he’ll be there to pull wire, despite the fact that he has to work the next morning. He does it because we’re family, and that’s the way we were raised to treat family. It’s only been in the last few years that I’ve learned that all families are not like that. I’ve seen it firsthand, but it’s still hard for me to grasp.

And as much as he is like my brother Josh, he is completely different. He isn’t mechanical. He doesn’t know how to operate every piece of equipment he’s ever come in contact with. But, he can tell you more about animals than you’ll ever learn at a zoo. He knows what snake is most poisonous, and what kinds live where. He can tell you what a serval cat is, and what they were famous for in history, and even what they are like in person. When we were kids, he had a subscription to ZooBooks magazine. He kept every issue, and read and re-read each one. And he still does. He is as much of an animal lover as I have ever seen. I can easily picture him as a park ranger at Yellowstone, or a National Geographic Photographer.